Why is the first day of the first month of the rat?

The reason for the rat on the 15th day of the first lunar month is as follows:

In the traditional customs of the Han Chinese people, the 15th day of the first lunar month is also a day to expel rats, and this activity is mainly for sericulture family said. Therefore, the 15th day of the first month of the rat, this custom is also mainly prevalent in the ancient south of the vast area of silk production.

The first fifteenth day of the first month, the winter has just passed, not long after the spring, when the rats began to move, but slow, it is a good time to get rid of the rats. However, the ancients believe that the rat is the god of grains, do not dare to offend easily, but also worried about the rat in the night to eat the silkworms in a large area, so it can only be pleasing to it. Therefore, the 15th day of the first month of the year is still the day to expel rats.

Legend of the Lantern Festival rat-by-rat:

This folk tradition first originated in the Wei and Jin dynasties. It was mainly said to people who raised silkworms. The first recorded in the "Jing Chu chronicle", the book said, the first month of the fifteenth time, there is a fairy down to the rat a family surnamed Chen, said to them: if you can sacrifice me, let your silkworms harvest. Later on, the custom was formed.

Another story is that a man named Zhang Cheng in Wu County saw a beautiful woman standing in the southeast corner of his house, raising her hand to summon him when he got up at night. Zhang Cheng went up to him, the woman said to him: I am the god of this place in your house, next year on the 15th day of the first month, you make a good porridge and cover it with meat to sacrifice to me. Then your family will have a good harvest of silkworms.

After saying this, the woman disappeared. Zhang Cheng did this every year from then on, and sure enough, he had a good harvest every year. People made congee and prayed, "Denggao Mee. Hold the rat's brain. Want to come not come. Stay with me three silkworms old. This is the origin of the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month of the rat.